Elizabeth Cynthia Barr (born December 17, 1971), later known by her married name Beth Isaak,[2] is an American former competition swimmer for the University of Texas who was a backstroke specialist and 1988 Seoul Olympic silver medalist.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Elizabeth Cynthia Barr | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | "Beth" | ||||||||||||||||||||
| National team | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | December 17, 1971 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 132 lb (60 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Backstroke | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Greater Pensacola AC (formerly PJC Aquatics) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | University of Texas | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Steve Bultman Greater Pensacola AC (PJC)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||
Barr grew up in Pensacola, Florida, and attended Woodham High School where as a Junior she broke the state record at the 1986 Florida State Championship in the 100 backstroke with a time of 56.54 in the preliminaries, and later placed second in the finals. She was subsequently named "Girls Athlete of the Year".[3] She later attended Booker T. Washington High School. During her High School years, she trained and competed with PJC Aquatics (now known as Greater Pensacola Aquatic Club) under Hall of Fame Coach Steve Bultman.[4][5]
1988 Olympic silver medal
editAs a 16-year-old High School Junior, she represented the United States at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. She won a silver medal by swimming the backstroke leg for the second-place U.S. team in the women's 4×100-meter medley relay with a combined time of 4:07.9, together with teammates Janel Jorgensen (butterfly), Tracey McFarlane (breaststroke), and Mary Wayte (freestyle). East Germany, the former world record holder, won the gold with a comfortable four second margin of victory over the American team.[4] Individually, she also competed in the women's 100-meter backstroke, finishing fifth in the event final with a time of 1:02.78, and the women's 200-meter backstroke, finishing fourth in 2:12.39.[4]
At the 1987 Pan Pacific Games in Brisbane, Barr won a bronze medal in the 200 backstroke.[6]
University of Texas
editBarr attended and swam for the University of Texas, where as an outstanding contributor she helped lead the team to an NCAA National Title in 1991 by winning the 200 backstroke, and placing second in the 100 backstroke event. That year, Texas scored 746 points and set an NCAA Championship record for most points scored by a team.[7] She lost a year of training and competition as a result of a compound fracture of her right arm caused by an accident horseback riding in May 1989. As a result, she was unable to train sufficiently to qualify for the 1992 Olympic trails, though she tried, and performed outstandingly in a number of other competitions.[8]
In 1990-91, she won the national title in the 200-yard backstroke. That year she swam the opening leg of University of Texas's 200-yard medley relay title. During her years at the University of Texas, she was an NCAA individual champion and an All-American four times. In 1991, Barr captured the 200-yard backstroke title at the Southwest Conference Championships to help Texas win the team title.[8]
She won the national title in the 100 back at the 1986 Short Course Nationals. In competition at the Goodwill Games in 1986, she placed fifth in the 100 backstroke and seventh in the 200 backstroke. In 1990 she captured the 100 and 200 back in Rome at the Len Cup Meet. In U.S. competition, she placed first in the 200 back and third in the 100 back at Long Course Nationals.[8]
Later life
editShe relocated to Washington D.C. after ending her career as a competitive swimmer and took a position as a business lobbyist on Capitol Hill. She later married, moved to Phoenix, Arizona and started Barracuda Swim Works, offering swim instruction to triathletes, masters swimmers and novice adult swimmers. After a divorce, she returned with her children to her hometown of Pensacola, Florida and worked in public relations and public affairs.[6]
As of 2020, she lives in Pensacola.[2][1]
Honors
editIn September 2023, she was inducted into the University of Texas Athletics Hall of Honor.[7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Texas A&M Staff, Steve Bultman". 12thman.com.
- ^ a b Linton Weeks, "Former U.S. Olympians: Then And Now," National Public Radio (August 6, 2008). Retrieved September 16, 2017.
- ^ Harrell, Karen, "Area's Best Athletes, Swimming", Pensacola Journal, Pensacola, Florida, 4 December 1986, pg. 38
- ^ a b c Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Beth Barr". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
- ^ "Vilona, Bill, Blue Wahoos will honor trio of iconic Pensacola athletes at Women in Sports Night". sports.yahoo.com.
- ^ a b "Olympedia Bio, Beth Barr". olympedia.org.
- ^ a b "Almeida, Isa, Former Texas backstroker, Olympic medalist Beth Barr to be inducted into Hall of Honor". thedailytexan.com.
- ^ a b c "University of Texas, Hall of Honor, Beth Barr". texaslonghorns.com.
External links
edit
This article about a swimming Olympic medalist of the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |